The Breaker's Apprentices
by Solracdragon
Summary: The Goblet is used for more than the Tri-Wizard Tournament, something that Harry and a few other select students are going to find out. Join them as they become apprentices, and as Harry takes the first step to True Power. Part 1 of the Path to Power series. HPx?. First two chapters edited for grammar.
1. A New Choice

**Hello Readers. For those who have favorite me, sorry it took a year to get a new story out, but that's life. To those who are new, I hope you enjoy this story and please REVIEW.**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any way shape or form.**

**Chapter 1: A New Choice**

At the edge of the horizon, the sky slowly began to change from it's inky black to a variety of colors. As the first golden rays of sunlight began to spread across the ground, the castle known as Hogwarts would be bathed in a golden light, extending it's shadow to cover the grounds of the small village nearby known as Hogsmeade. Just outside of the gates that lead to Hogwarts, a tall burst of golden flames suddenly appeared. By the time that the flames faded, a tall figure was standing in place of them, with a single trunk set on the ground next to him, and a majestic golden red phoenix on his shoulder.

Usually when someone looked at this man, this wizard, they expected to see a kindly visage, complete with a grandfatherly smile and twinkling blue eyes. However, right now his expression was grim as he read the newspaper that was in his hands, not even acknowledging the small creature, a house-elf, that had appeared and taken his trunk away. Finally finishing the paper, he folded it up and slip it inside of his long silver robes. With a simple wave of his hand, the gates leading to Hogwarts swung open, and he began to take the long walk up to the school.

"This explains why the ICW ended so quickly Fawkes," the wizard, Albus Dumbledore, said to his phoenix, who responded with a musical trill. "I can only hope that Cornelius and the rest of the Ministry will begin to prepare for the war that is to come. Sometimes, I wish that I had taken up the seat of the Minister if only to make sure as many are prepared as possible." Sighing deeply, he continued walking up towards Hogwarts in silence, merely enjoying the peace and view.

That peace however, was quickly be broken on the approach of a simple brown owl, just as he reached the Entrance Hall. Extending an arm to allow the bird to land, he gently removed the letter attached to its leg before giving it a quick stroke of it's feathers, and watching it fly away. Opening the letter, he would began to read it, a look of concentration on his face. As he ascended the Grand Staircase, his face began to turn grim once more. By the time he had reached the Seventh Floor, which contained his office, he finished reading the letter and reached into his robes, withdrawing a single blood-red lollipop.

"I do really hope that the unfortunate vampire who ended up with my bag of Lemon Drops is okay," he mused aloud as he began to unwrap the Blood-Pop. Beginning to eat the Blood-Pop as the gargoyle guarding his office jumped aside, he started to think of how he could resolve this latest issue. Taking a seat in his chair, he waved his hand and summoned a letter that had been put on his shelf for reference. Spreading it out on his desk, he reached into his robes and withdraw the issue of the Daily Prophet he had been reading before, setting it on the desk as well, followed by the letter he had just read.

His face would morph into a look of concentration, almost as if he was trying to figure out some kind of puzzle. A good hour would pass, during which he would begin to eat another Blood Pop, before he would finally slump back in his chair, a grim and sorrowful look on his face.

"I fear that young Harry will be in a great deal of danger this year if I have read everything right," he said aloud. "But it is to late to stop the Tri-Wizard Tournament from happening now. I doubt that even with Alastor's help, I will be unable to stop young Harry from being entered." Pausing for a minute, he looked up at all the awake paintings of former Headmaster's and Headmistress's. With a nod of his head, the paintings began to all speak, all at the same time, offering their opinion on the matter.

While listening to so many paintings speak at the same time might be confusing for many people, Albus Dumbledore wasn't on of them. He was used to this, having been Headmaster for many years, and his face took a contemplative look as he listened. After another hour passed, Dumbledore would raise a hand, and the paintings took that as a signal and all fall silent.

"I hardly think that expelling young Harry would solve any problems Phineas," he said, giving a pointed look to the most recent Slytherin Headmaster's painting. "And giving him a rare magical illness would only be a temporary solution Dilys. While I could have someone watch over the Goblet while the names are being placed, I fear that Harry's misfortune will have him entered regardless."

Deciding to take a small break for breakfast, as the sun was clearly visible now in the dawn sky, Dumbledore called for a House-Elf, it being a one of his favorites called Kippy, to bring him some breakfast. Eating in silence, he began think over the various other suggestions that the former Headmaster's and mistresses had come up with. Sighing as he finished his meal, still without an answer to his dilemma, he turned towards his shelves with a resigned expression. Reaching up to his highest one, he grabbed a tattered looking hat and set it down in the center of his desk. The hat remained still for a minute before stirring, something resembling a face appearing from it's many folds.

"Bee in your bonnet Headmaster," the Sorting Hat asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. I find myself in a difficult situation, and require the opinion of Hogwarts on a matter of upmost importance," Dumbledore responded, his voice containing a grim tone. Watching as the hat bowed it's tip, he continued. "I have just received word from Sirius that young Harry has begun to have dreams about Voldemort. Apparently, he has obtained some sort of body, and is beginning to plot once more. I believe that he plans on using the Tri-Wizard Tournament as a means to get to Harry. What's worse is that Death Eaters have just attacked the World Cup, and the Dark Mark was seen in the sky."

Pausing for a minute to catch his breath, he continued to speak at the sight of the Sorting Hat's nonresponse.

"I have already consulted the portraits, and while they have many ideas on what to do, none of them will be effective in the end." A brief moment later, the Hat seemed to come alive again, and responded.

"Hogwarts would try to warn you against manipulating Mister Potter's life again, but we understand the need for it this time. While the Tri-Wizard Tournament can not be canceled, the Goblet of Fire can be used for other purposes."

"I see, so Hogwarts believes that if we can get young Harry into a different magically binding contract, that he can avoid the Tournament?"

"Yes, we believe that you will find something that can be used in the Charter. And we recommend that whatever you choose takes Mister Potter away from Hogwarts, to keep any other plans from being formed."

"I see, thank you again for your assistance in this matter," Dumbledore said, lifting the Sorting Hat and placing it back on the top of the shelf.

"One more thing Albus," the Hat said, an unknown tone coming into it's voice. "Should you call on us for assistance, and it is not concerning Hogwarts in any immediate form, we shall no longer answer to you and you shall be the Headmaster in only title until we find someone else worth of the position." With that, the Sorting Hat finally went immobile again, leaving behind a sorrowful looking Dumbledore.

Walking over to one of his many bookshelves, Dumbledore took down the largest of the tomes off of it and set it on his desk. Flipping to the part of the Charter that had to deal with the Goblet of Fire, he began to read it, attempting to find another viable use of the Goblet. A short amount of time passed, during which various different House-Elves popped in and out sporadically, delivering various bits of mail, cleaning up his breakfast, and giving him status updates on the various things going on around Hogwarts. He always took a break from his research to deal with these things, wanting Hogwarts to be at it's best for when the other schools arrived. After which he always return to his research, determined to find his answer.

It would take him most of the day before he finally found something that he believed would work.

"I will have to make various arrangements to make sure that this happens, but this is the best way to ensure young Harry's safety," he said somberly, closing the Charter. Withdrawing his wand, he gave it a quick flick, causing the Charter to fly back to the bookshelf, the Daily Prophet to be sent to the Library for archiving, and the letter from Sirius to his room for future storage. Another flick of his wand caused a few pieces of parchment to appear on his desk. Taking his time to compose the letters, it wasn't until nightfall that Dumbledore finished, sending Fawkes to deliver the letters to Sirius, and Gringotts.

"Hermes," he called out, causing a House-Elf to pop into his room. "Hermes, please have the kitchen staff prepare a meal for the rest of the staff tomorrow. And inform the staff that there shall be a meeting at noon. If they ask, tell them that we are going to be reviving another old tradition, and that they will need to prepare."

**Well, here is the first chapter of what I hope will be a good story. I hope you don't find this chapter to boring, but it is vital to the overall plot of the story. I do have a good amount of the plot thought out, it is just going to be the typing it up that will take a while. I already have the pairing decided on, and am going to keep it a secret until the time is right. I enjoy criticism, so please review.**

**Edit: Got rid of most of the uses of the word would, people were getting annoyed.**


	2. The Letter

**Hello, and welcome to the second chapter of my story. As of the time I'm writing this, the story has made 8 favorites, 6 alerts, and 1 review. I'd like to thank those people and hope I get more. Remember, if you have anything to say, please review. Also, I feel like I should warn you all that this will have a slow build up, so don't get discouraged. Now, we go onto the story.**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form.**

**Chapter 2: The Letter**

The sun was already high in the sky over the Burrow when Harry Potter finally opened his eyes. Looking around confused for a minute, he began to rub the sleep from his eyes and put on his glasses that were sitting on a nightstand next to the bed he was sleeping in. Sitting up and stretching himself out to wake up, he began to look around the orange room filled with posters of the Chudley Cannons that belonged to his best friend, Ron Weasley. Not finding Ron or his identical twin brothers, Fred and George, who had been staying with them for the time being, in the room he finally decided to look outside, and was shocked to find that it was already well past noon.

~I wonder why they let me sleep in so late,~ he thought. ~Usually Mrs. Weasley makes sure everyone is up early to make sure we all get breakfast.~ Deciding to go and see what was up, he got up out of bed and went into his trunk, grabbing out a set of Dudley's old clothes that he could wear today. Clothes in hand, he made his way to open the door, so he could go take a shower, when it quickly opened in his face, slamming into his nose, and forcing him to stumble backwards.

"Oh my gosh Harry, I'm so sorry," a female voice said. The door opened again, slower this time, and revealed one of Harry's two best friends, Hermione Granger. Harry was clutching his nose to stem the bleeding, and biting his tongue to hold back a string of curses of pain when Hermione rushed over to him. "I'm so sorry Harry. Does it hurt? Of course it hurts. It looks broken, we should go see Mrs. Weasley."

"Hermione," Harry said, stopping the girl from rambling. "I'm fine, I don't think it's broken. Trust me, Dudley has done worse." Harry then bit his lip and, using the hand that was stopping his nose from bleeding, snapped it back into place with a grunt. "See, everything is fine. This isn't the first time this has happened." Despite this, Hermione still had a worried look on her face, and looked ready to argue with him. Deciding to quickly change the subject, Harry decided to see if he could find out why he was aloud to sleep in so late. "Hey Hermione, why did Mrs. Weasley let me sleep in so much? She seems pretty determined this summer to make sure I overeat at every meal."

Harry could see that Hermione wasn't fooled by his subject change, and would likely bring it back up later. However, she sighed a little before sitting on the spare bed in the room.

"I guess you wouldn't remember would you," she began. "But, you were tossing and turning all night Harry. You even occasionally broke out into some really strange bouts of laughter. It kept Ron, Fred, and George up all night to. But Mrs. Weasley figured you were just having nightmares about what happened after the World Cup. She decided to let you sleep in just this once. But don't expect that you won't be forced to eat a big lunch. By the way, what were you dreaming about last night? Was it You-Know-Who again?"

Harry sighed and nodded his head, causing Hermione to frown.

"I think that it was Voldemort again," Harry said in an exasperated tone, ignoring Hermione's slight shiver. "He was, happy for some reason, really happy. I can't remember what exactly was going on, but I just couldn't stop watching."

"Oh Harry, you need to write Dumbledore about this, I'm sure he will have some answers."

"No, I don't want to bother him with this kind of stuff. I've already written Sirius and asked for his opinion on the matter, still haven't heard back from him."

Hermione frowned slightly, not happy that Harry wasn't going to go to Dumbledore about this. "Fine, hopefully Sirius will tell Dumbledore if you won't," she said in a thoughtful tone. "Anyways, I just came up here to wake you up. It's almost time for lunch, so you might want to get ready." With that, Hermione stood up and left the room, a slight frown on her face from how the conversation went.

Sighing briefly at Hermione's stubbornness, Harry picked up his clothes that had fallen on the ground, and left the room, heading for the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and preforming the rest of his normal morning bathroom routine, he then went downstairs, where Mrs. Weasley was making sandwiches for everyone in the kitchen, with Hermione putting them onto a platter, and Ginny taking them to the table.

"Hello Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said with a kind smile and motherly voice. "I'm glad your finally up, you seemed to have a rough night last night."

"Good morning Mrs. Weasley," Harry said with a kind smile. "Thanks for letting me sleep in. I don't really remember what it was I dreamed about, but it must have been pretty bad."

"Oh, don't worry about it to much dear. Now, come on and sit down. You missed breakfast so I made you a couple of extra sandwiches. You do need to get some more food in you after all, you're far to skinny." She then stopped making the sandwiches and headed towards the back door. "Boys," she hollered outside. "It's time for lunch." She then began to take the sandwiches over to the table as well, setting some out for everyone.

Harry meanwhile accepted his platter of sandwiches from a blushing Ginny, giving her a soft smile as he did so. Ginny's blush then deepened and she scampered over to her seat at the table, giving Harry shy looks the whole time. As Harry began to eat the sandwiches, his thoughts being split between two things, when Sirius would finally write him back, and what to do about Ginny.

~I really wonder what is taking him so long to get back to me,~ he thought between bites, choosing to focus only on the delicious food while actually eating it. ~I mean, I understand that he is a long ways away, but he never has taken this long before. These dreams are only getting worse, and I need advice on what to do with Ginny. Maybe I should just talk to her about this all, see why she is so embarrassed around me.~ So lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Ron, Fred, and George enter the room until he was finished with his platter of extra sandwiches.

"Oh hey guys," he finally said upon noticing them, watching as Ron took what appeared to be another sandwich from the main platter.

"So, your finally awake Harry," one of the twins said with a smile.

"It's about time to," said the other. "Though if your laughing and constant moving around in bed was anything to judge your dreams by, I'm not surprised that it took you so long to wake up." At this, both twins waggled their eyebrows and got big smiles on their faces, before beginning to laugh at how red Harry turned, not noticing that Ginny's face turned an even deeper shade.

"Fred and George Weasley," Mrs. Weasley hollered at hearing what the twins said. "How dare you say those kinds of things. Those are not appropriate to say, especially while eating. Now, you two go up to your room this instant, and don't let me hear a single sound coming out from it." Still smiling, Fred and George left the table and made their way upstairs to their room. It took another minute before Harry got his face under control that he noticed something.

"Hey, where are Bill and Charlie," he asked with curiosity, hoping to get his mind off what the twins had said.

"Charlie left last night to get prepared for, something," Mrs. Weasley said in a slightly nervous tone. "And Bill just got a letter this morning from Gringotts about something urgent. It's such a shame to, he was supposed to be staying here until after Christmas but now he has to get ready for something big." She then sighed and start gathering all the empty plates and taking them to the kitchen to clean.

It was around this time that Ron had finally finished eating and looked to Harry. "Hey, how about we go outside and fly around for a bit," he said in an excited tone. "And, do you think I could ride on your Firebolt again? It's always wicked when I get to, it's so fast."

Hermione however, had a different opinion on what to do. "Honestly, you two need to finish up your summer homework yet. I know that you haven't done any of it yet Ron, and Harry said that he needed my help with his Potion's essay."

"Come on Hermione," Ron whined. "We still have like a week before we need to worry about it. I'll get it done before classes I swear."

"Ronald Weasley," Mrs. Weasley shrilly hollered upon reentering the room. "You and Harry need to get your homework done now. Hermione is being generous by offering to help you out. Now, get upstairs and finish your homework. After it's done, you can go outside and fly around."

"Yes mum," Ron mumbled dejectedly, giving Hermione a small scowl. He then begin to head upstairs, followed by Hermione who had a pleased look on her face. Meanwhile, Harry was holding back a groan of disappointment. He had been looking forward to relaxing for a bit longer, and didn't want to do anything Potions related. However, he knew that Hermione would be coming downstairs to get him soon if he didn't head up, so with a sigh, he thanked Mrs. Weasley for the meal and begin to head upstairs, hoping to finish his work quickly.

Sadly for Harry and Ron, it wasn't until late in the evening that they had finished with their homework. Having only taken a break for dinner, both boys were very frustrated at how nitpicky Hermione was on their work.

"I have to admit that you did a decent job on most of your earlier work Harry, but you missed so many points that you would have only barely passed," Hermione had said in her usual lecturing voice. "And Ron, this is the last time that I let you copy any of my work, next time you need to actually do the research and not rely on me for everything. Anyways, I'm happy that you both are done with your work. And hopefully next time you won't put it off for so long."

Ron was looking mildly angry and was about to retort when a hoot was heard through the room, and Hedwig swooped in through an open window, followed by a plain grey owl. The grey owl landed on Hedwig's cage, choosing to stay away from the hyperactive Pidwidgeon, while Hedwig chose to land on Harry's shoulder.

"Hey there girl did you have a good trip," Harry asked, gently stroking Hedwig's feathers. Hedwig hooted in response, and offer her leg out for Harry to remove the letter.

"Is it from Sirius," Hermione asked impatiently, head appearing over Harry's shoulder to read what he had gotten.

"Of course it is, who else would it be," Ron said with a smirk, joining the other two. "Come on Harry, open it up."

"Fine, I'll open it up now," Harry said, slightly annoyed that they were reading over his shoulder. He proceeded to break open the envelope, take out the parchment, and begin to read it, both Ron and Hermione reading it from above and behind.

_Pup,_

_ I'm sorry for taking so long to get back to you with this letter, but when you told me about the dreams that you were having, I decided that it might be best if I was closer to keep a better eye on you. Yes, I have returned to England. Now, I know that you may not want me to put myself in danger over you, but I've managed to find somewhere that I can stay without being found by anyone. I'll talk more on that later, for now, let's talk about your dream._

_ Now, I'm glad that you came to me about this, but I really don't have that much advise to offer you. It's for that reason that I contacted Dumbledore and asked his opinion on the matter. He said that he had some ideas as to what the dream was about that he would discuss with you later, but for now he wants to take a wait and see approach. I'm sorry that I can't give you any really good advice, but I've been more concerned about settling in for now. However, I promise to look into some things soon._

_ And now we come to the topic that I know you are most anxious about, me being back in England. Like I said, I have a safe place to say, an old family home that Dumbledore is helping me set protections on. The wards on this place are impressive enough that the both Ministry or the Dementors will not find me here, so please don't worry about me pup. Now, since I have a steady house to live at now, I'd like you to think back to what I said when we were talking last year. If you remember right, I offered you a place to live._

_ While I know it is to late for you to stay with me this summer, I can make it so that you can stay with me over Christmas, Easter, and next summer if you wish. I already have Dumbledore's permission to do this, he seems to think your relatives might not be the safest place to be anymore. There is however, a slight problem that needs to be addressed first. Some of the wards on the place I am staying, which I haven't named because I can't, are tied to blood. Dumbledore has been working on taking down those wards, but has been unable to, and likely won't in the foreseeable future. That is why I sent a second owl along with Hedwig, to collect some of your blood and deliver it to me safely. _

_ Well pup, I think this letter might be getting a little long, so I'll end it here. Get the blood back to me quickly, and I hope to see you soon._

_ Padfoot_

By the time that Harry had finished reading the letter, he looked over his shoulder to see Ron still reading the letter, and Hermione pacing back and forth, seeming to get ready to rant about something. She seemed to be glaring at the other owl for some odd reason, and her gaze shot back towards Harry, Ron, and the letter, almost as if she was waiting for Ron to finish reading it before she went off. Another minute passed before Ron finished reading and let out a long whistle, looking as if he was going to say something. However, Hermione beat him to it.

"How utterly irresponsible of him," she said beginning to rant. "Coming back to England when the whole Ministry is still searching hard for him, especially after that Death Eater attack after the World Cup. If they get even the slightest hint of him being back here, Dementors will be on Hogwarts grounds again. And I highly doubt that wherever he is staying is as well protected enough that he won't be found. I mean, Harry and his parents were found by You-Know-Who and they were protected by Dumbledore to."

Hermione then paused in her rant for a moment, taking the time to catch her breath. Ron was sitting on his bed with a shocked expression, while Harry was starting to get angry at how Hermione was acting towards Sirius. They were both about to speak up when Hermione held out her hand and began to speak again.

"And, he is asking for Harry's blood, to be used for Blood magic which is illegal, and dark magic. Honestly, it's as if he doesn't care that he will be breaking more laws and getting into actual trouble. It doesn't matter though, because you are not going to be sending him any of your blood Harry. I just can't believe he would be so irresponsible. You're going to," however whatever Hermione was going to say next was cut off by Harry's standing up, obviously shaking in anger, a small amount of wind swirling around him from his magic reacting to his anger.

"Hermione shut up," he grit out from between his teeth. "You have no right to talk about Sirius like that. He is just overly concerned about me. Besides, you heard him, Dumbledore is helping him with these wards." Hermione looked ready to argue with him, when Ron suddenly spoke up.

"I don't know what you are talking about Hermione," he say cautiously, not used to mediating arguments. "Blood magic isn't all dark magic. I mean, most families use it to bind other members to there houses. Something about magic of the land, I'm not all that sure, I didn't really pay attention when mum and dad were talking about it."

It seems though, that Hermione stopped listening when Ron said that Blood magic was used to bind families to their houses. In fact, she looked like a mix between anger and disgust as she looked around Ron's room like it was diseased or something. Harry had also stopped listening to what Ron was saying, but he stopped after he mentioned binding family to a house.

~Does Sirius think of me as family,~ he thought, tuning out Hermione's ranting at Ron and himself. ~Or does this mean that we are actually related or something. Maybe I should ask him when I send him a letter.~ He was soon drawn out of his thoughts though, by an owl screeching, and Hermione cursing lightly as the grey owl snapped at her hand when she tried to take the package attached to the bird's leg.

"Hermione what are you doing," Harry asked in an angry voice.

"I'm trying to see what is in that package," she responded with equal anger. "Whatever else Sirius sent you has to do with Blood magic, which is completely illegal no matter what. Honestly, I can't believe that Ron's family practices it to. I have half a mind to leave and go home right now so I don't get in trouble." Frowning somewhat, she attempted to get the package again, only for the bird to screech once more and fly out of her reach. Huffing somewhat, she turned towards Harry and Ron again. "Regardless of what is in there though, you won't be sending any blood to Sirius."

"And what if I do," Harry asked with a growl, trying to reign in his anger. "Sirius is offering me an actual home, away from the Dursleys. And you heard Ron, other families use Blood Magic on their homes all the time. In fact, if Dumbledore is right, it's my mum's blood and love that protected me from Voldemort that night. So you know what, I am going to give my blood to Sirius, and I don't care what you do, you won't stop me." He then looked Hermione in the eye, almost daring her to stop him. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, trying to think of something to say, before huffing and leaving the room with a stomp.

"I think I'm going to go and talk to her before she does something bad," Ron said in a shocked voice, not believing what just happened. Giving Harry a somewhat reassuring smile, he left the room in a slight hurry, trying to catch up with Hermione. Meanwhile, the second that they had both left the room, the grey owl flew down from it's safe spot and landed on Harry's shoulder, offering the package on it's leg. Harry took the package, and opened it, finding a vial and a short note.

_Pup, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. So long as you are in the same house as an adult wizard, you can use your magic freely. With that out of the way, I'll tell you how to get enough blood for the vial. Be careful with this though, as it could go badly. Simply take your wand and run it along a vein, saying the words Sanguinem Fluere while focusing on the blood flowing through your veins, following your wand, guided by your magic. Stop saying the spell when you reach a joint, and pull your wand back. The blood should flow with it, and simply put it in the vial. This should ensure that the blood has your magic in it as well, which will help with the rituals. Oh, and one more thing, I'll be at King's Cross on the 1__st__ to give you something. You'll notice me when you see me. See you then pup._

Harry read over the note again, making sure that he had everything right before smiling somewhat. He could use his magic freely, even if he had to keep in a secret. And he would be seeing Sirius again, even if it's going to be a bit risky. However, he had more important things to focus on, getting his blood for Sirius. Moving over towards the bedside stand, he grabbed his wand off of it and place it on his forearm, on the vein.

Taking a deep breath, he said the spell _Sanguinem Fluere_, and begin to focus his magic like Sirius had instructed. He had to admit, it felt a little strange, almost as if insects were crawling around inside his arm, but he continued with it, his thoughts about living with Sirius letting him push through it. Stopping when he reached his wrist, he then pulled his wand up, and watched in fascination as his blood flowed out in a controlled manner, following his wand until he directed it to the vial, filling it quickly.

Putting a stopper on the vial, he watched as the owl gripped the vial in it's talons, before it took flight, leaving Harry feeling slightly exhilarated as he thought about living with Sirius.

* * *

Sirius Black opened a door and stepped onto a small set of stairs that led to the front door of his home. While most would be depressed about living in such a dark and depressing place, Sirius wasn't, at least not anymore. With a smile, he looked down into his hand, where an almost empty vial of his godson's blood rested. His gentle smile wouldn't be able to hide his exhaustion though, as binding his godson to the wards was more than a bit exhausting. Luckily for enough he had the strength to do it, if it was even a month ago he wouldn't have, and the effort from trying likely would have killed him.

A lot had changed for him since Harry had last seen him. With Dumbledore's help, and to his displeasure Snape's, he was recovering from twelve years locked in Azkaban, the wizarding prison. Where once he was thin and gaunt, his face looked a bit fuller, and he actually had some meat on his bones. His pale and shallow face was much more healthy looking, a benefit of spending a good amount of the summer to the south soaking up sun. And his once dirty and matted hair now looked well cared for.

Sirius took a breath and withdrew his wand, 12" made of Dogwood and a Dragon Heartstring from an Antipodean Opaleye that had somehow migrated to Britain over a century ago. Weaving his wand around himself, he began murmuring transfiguration spells on himself, since his wand wouldn't do any silent magic for some odd reason, and began to change his appearance to make it so he would be able to blend in with any crowd without drawing any attention. With another deep breath, he slipped the almost empty vial, and his wand into his pockets before walking down the stairs, leaving the range of the wards. Going to the park across the street, he looked around as inconspicuously as possible until he finally found an old man with a long beard sitting at a chess table, playing with himself.

Making his way over towards him, Sirius slipped his wand out of his pocket, and canceled his transfigurations when he felt himself pass through some wards.

"Sirius, I'm glad that you found me so easily," the old man, who was revealed to be Albus Dumbledore when he passed through the wards, said. "I must admit, you look much healthier than when I last saw you. Are things going well?"

"Headmaster," Sirius said with a respectful nod of his head. "Everything is going well, those potions that you keep having House-Elves send me are a great help. And the extra wards over Grimmauld Place help me sleep easier at night."

"That is good," Dumbledore responded. "Speaking of wards, how did it go with keying young Harry into them? Was it as difficult as we anticipated."

"It did go as expected," Sirius said with an exhausted sigh. "The fact that Lily was a muggleborn almost made the almost made the wards reject him. However, with Harry's grandmother being a Black, and me naming him as my heir, I managed to get the wards to accept him, though it drained me of a lot of my magic."

"I see," Dumbledore said, his fingers entwined beneath his chin and a contemplative look on his face. "I believe that Harry will be safe enough to live here over winter break should he so wish. However, with what is going on at Hogwarts this year, he may not wish to."

"Oh right," Sirius said with a chuckle. "The Tri-Wizard Tournament involves the Yule Ball to doesn't it? I'm going to have to have a talk with him about certain things." A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he thought of all the ways he could embarrass his godson during his talk.

"Yes, he may want to say because of the Yule Ball," Dumbledore said with a slight smile, mentally guessing at what Sirius was thinking. "But, there may be another thing that causes him to not be able to come here. I'm sure you remember what I told you I had planned for Harry this year correct?"

With a slight frown, Sirius nodded and withdraw the vial with what was left of the blood, setting it on the table. All traces of his previous happiness was gone.

"I remember, I just wish that it wasn't so dangerous. But if what you told me is true, then it is safer then letting him stay at school and risk being put in the tournament."

"I promise that he will be safe Sirius. I have spoken with Gringotts, and they have assigned one of their best to be the one the students, which will likely include Harry, will be under. In fact, they will be spending the first month getting ready for what is to come, and building a trust with each other. Something necessary with what they are going to be doing." Dumbledore then grabbed the vial and held it up to the light, observing the blood. "I'm glad there is enough left, I don't think that Harry would be willing to give up another vial without another good reason."

"Yea, though I could always try to blood adopt him, even with the risks it would put us both through."

"Perhaps, in the future you can Sirius, but it will have to wait until you are proven innocent. Now however, I must take my leave. There are still some last minute preparations that need to be done. I have already taken the time to set up a place for you to meet Harry on the 1st, I'm sure you will be able to find it easily." Dumbledore then stood up and with a wave of his wand, vanished the chess pieces before picking up the board, revealing a number of glowing runes on the bottom of it. Sirius stood up as well and begin to transfigure himself again.

"Well Headmaster, I suppose that I will see you when you stop by to check the wards again. Thank you again for all your help."

"Don't mention it my boy, it is for Harry's safety. With luck, we can forestall Voldemort's resurrection a bit long by doing this." He then reached into his robes and took out a Blood pop, sucking on it to Sirius's confusion and snickering. With a slight bow of his head, Dumbledore disappeared with a soft crack, taking the warded chessboard with him. Sirius then headed back to Grimmauld place where he would lay down in his room, staring at the picture of the Marauders taken back at Hogwarts. ~I hope that I made the right choice this time,~ he thought. ~If I didn't, then I hope they will all be able to forgive me.~

* * *

**Well, that's the end of chapter 2, hope you enjoyed it. Oh, and let me assure you that Harry won't end up with Ginny at the end of this, I do not like that pairing. As I said before, if you have any questions or criticisms, please leave a review, it let's me know that people are reading and enjoying this story.**

**Edit: I got rid of most of the uses of the word would, since I was using it incorrectly. Hopefully this should bring an end to the complaints about it.**


	3. Back to Hogwarts

**Hello Reader's and welcome to another chapter of The Breaker's Apprentice. At the time I am writing this I currently have 4 reviews, 16 Favs, and 17 Follows. Wow, I was not expecting so much so quickly. I'll be addressing reviews at the end of this chapter. Anyways, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. Sadly.**

**Chapter 3: Back to Hogwarts**

During the last few days at the Burrow, there was a visible tension between Harry and Hermione. While Ron had been able to talk Hermione into not storming out of the place, she was still furious with Harry over sending some of his blood to Sirius, even though she didn't say anything. When the other members of the Burrow tried to talk to one of them and ask what the problem was, Harry said that they had gotten into an argument over his schoolwork, while Hermione simply turned her nose up and started to read a book.

The tension between the two of them was bad enough that they had even gone as far as skipping breakfast to not be in each other's presence. This continued even to September 1st, the day where they would all be heading back to Hogwarts. With the thought of seeing Sirius again firmly in his mind, Harry had packed his things the night before and was eagerly waiting in Ron's room for someone to come and get him so they could leave.

~I hope that Sirius is doing better then the last time I saw him,~ Harry thought as he waited. ~Though, if he is in contact with Dumbledore like his letter implied, then he probably is doing better. I have so many questions to ask him, like if he could use my blood because we are related. Where he is living now that he is back in England. And where he was staying before he came back.~ Drawing himself out of his thoughts, he looked around cautiously for a minute before bringing his wand out of his pocket.

Ever since Sirius had informed him that he could get away with magic, Harry had been doing various little things when he could get away with it to make the days easier. From casting simple charms to dry himself off after he finished bathing, to carefully packing his trunk with it when everyone else was asleep. While he felt a thrill whenever he had used his magic, even for the simple things, he hadn't gotten anything like how he felt when he first used the magic to draw out his blood. Though he was curious as to why he felt that way, he pushed it off for something he could ask Sirius later.

With nobody in the room to see him, and boredom starting to take him over as he waited for someone to come and get him, Harry began to cast a few simple spells for his own amusement. What started with some basic color change charms on the orange room, turned to Harry thinking back over all the spells he knew to redecorate the room. By the time he had finished, the room was now a mixture of bright green and yellow colors. The legs of the bedside tables and the beds had been switched, making the tables low to the ground with the bed's higher up. The pillows had been transfigured into turtles, with the beds being frozen solid.

Smiling at his work, having relieved some of his stress while doing so, Harry was ready to start making things back to normal when the door to the room suddenly opened.

"Hey there Harry it's time to," were the first words out of one of the twins, Fred's mouth before he paused to look around the changed room. A smile was slowly be growing on his face as he looked around, and finally, his eyes rested on Harry, who was frozen with surprise, his wand still out. "Well, it seems like George and I weren't the only ones to figure out the secret to using magic over summer. I have to admit, this is a rather impressive prank for having so little time."

"Hang on a second," Harry said, finally out of his shocked state. "You two knew we could use magic as well?"

"Of course we did," Fred said with a smirk. "How do you think we managed to make those Fake Wands, or the Ton-Tongue Toffee? While we had to use potions on some of it, we also had to use transfiguration to make the stuff, and charms to bind it all together. Of course, it was a process getting it all done. We're just glad that mum took the constant explosions coming from our room to just be us messing around and not us doing magic."

"Oh," Harry said meekly. "I guess that makes sense. I can't believe that none of us thought that you were using magic in there." He then looked around the room again, and sighed. "Um, do you think that you could undo this all for me? You are a sixth year and better at magic, so you could do it quicker."

"Hmm I don't know," Fred would say with a smirk. "I'm tempted to leave it this way so we can hear about Ronnie's reaction when he sees his room like this. But, if I did that then George and I would probably get into some big trouble." Fred then appeared to go into thought, trying to decide if the trouble was worth the reaction. After a minute of silence, he would bring his wand out and give it a wave, causing everything in the room to revert to normal. "It's such a shame that the prank can't stay. We'll just have to get Ron at school, with your help of course. You seem to be a natural when it comes to pranking Harry."

"Right, you won't say anything about this right?"

"Well, I do plan on telling George, he'll get a kick out of it. And we might tell Lee as well. But don't worry, we won't tell Ronnikins. Last thing we need is him doing magic next summer, and saying that we told him he could. Now come on, there are some cars from the Ministry outside waiting to take us to the station."

"Your Dad managed to get some cars again this year?"

"Maybe," Fred said with a shrug. "George and I think that Crouch is trying to make it up to you for accusing you of casting the Dark Mark after the World Cup. Can't be on your bad-side now can he?" With that said, Fred would chuckle one last time before leaving Harry alone in the room. Sighing with relief that he wasn't going to get in trouble because someone had caught him and opened their mouth, his thoughts flicked to Hermione, he grabbed his trunk and went downstairs.

When he arrived, he was somewhat surprised to see that Mr. Weasley was not there, though it was cleared up when Ron told him that he was called in to get someone out of trouble. Without Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, or Percy seeing them off to the station, the fact that there were two Ministry cars seemed redundant to them all. However, in the end Mrs. Weasley decided that it would be for the best if they didn't appear rude and took both of the cars.

Though Mrs. Weasley tried to get Harry and Hermione in the same car so they could, Harry managed to talk her out of it, stating that they would have the whole ride to Hogwarts to make up. In the end, they decided to simply split up with boys in one car, and the girls in the other. While Ginny seemed disappointed with the seating arrangement, Mrs. Weasley wasn't deterred and soon enough they were all heading to King's Cross.

A short trip in the Ministry car later, during which Fred and George discussed something in hushed tones that Harry and Ron couldn't hear. They finally arrived at King's Cross Station. They all rushed through the pouring rain, getting soaked as they made sure to cover their pets from the rain, with Fred strangely determined to keep his trunk dry. Placing their trunks and pets on trolleys, they began to make their way as a group through King's Cross. While everyone else was attempting to dry themselves off, Harry's eyes flickered all over the station, trying to find any evidence of Sirius.

By the time they reached the gateway to Platform 9 and ¾, Harry was visibly dejected as he was unable to find Sirius anywhere.

"Alright, now how about we have Harry, Hermione, and Ron go through first," Mrs. Weasley's voice said, cutting through Harry's thoughts. The three of them then leaned against the barrier, looking as inconspicuous as possible, with Hermione talking to Ron to add to the effect. When the cost was clear, the three of them and their trolleys fell through the barrier, arriving at the other side with a slight stumble. As the three of them regained their balance and were about to make their way through the crowd and to the train, a cold, silky voice cut through the noise.

"Mr. Potter, as prompt as usual." The trio turned quickly, and found themselves standing face to face with none other then their Potion's Professor, Severus Snape. "Come now Mr. Potter, there are things that I must, discuss with you."

"But Professor, why are you here," Hermione would ask, visibly nervous. "Surely whatever Harry did wrong could be discussed at school. I mean, there isn't much time left before the train leaves and."

"And discussing this is just lessening that time," Snape said, cutting in on Hermione's spiel. "Rest assured, Mr. Potter will be on the train in time. Now, come along and do not waste anymore time then you already have." With that said, Snape turned around and began to walk away, his cloak billowing behind him. Harry gave Ron and Hermione one last look before shrugging, following after Snape. They walked for a short amount of time, heading towards the front of the train, before Snape ducked into a decent sized room off to the side. "This should be good enough, the last portkey leading here arrived almost an hour ago," he said when Harry entered the room.

Seeing Harry about to speak, Snape raised a single finger before reaching into his cloak, bringing out what appeared to be a chessboard, and a vial of potion. Bringing out his wand, Snape taped a few places on the chessboard, causing the underside to light up as the runes activated the wards imbued in it. Snape would then drain the vial of potion, vanish it, and turn to Harry. A minute passed, with Harry staring at Snape with curiosity and nervousness before Snape's features started to melt and reshape. Where once stood Severus Snape, now stood Sirius Black.

"Hey there Pup, surprised at my disguise," he asked a shocked Harry with a grin on his face. "Let me tell you, it wasn't easy getting Dumbledore to give me one of Snape's hairs for my disguise. I had to swear not to do anything overly embarrassing, which is a shame as I had the perfect thing in mind that would have made it hard for any of his students to not look at him without laughing." As Sirius began to laugh at his thoughts of what he would have done, Harry finally broke through his stupor and rushed to Sirius, giving him a hug, which he gladly returned.

"Sirius, it's so good to see you," he said with a smile. "I can't believe how well you acted like Snape. I was sure that I had gotten a detention, or failed my final exams and he was here to make a huge scene out of it just to get back at me for letting you go free." Taking a minute to enjoy the hug from his godfather, he would eventually back away some, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I'm so glad you are here, I have so many questions for you."

Before Harry could start though, Sirius laid a hand on his godson's shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you do Harry, and I'd love to answer them all right now. But, you got here pretty late, so we don't have as much time as I wished we did." Seeing Harry's dejected look brought a frown to his face, before he suddenly brightened up and reached into his robes. "Listen, while we may not have a lot of time, I did bring something that could help us keep in touch." He then brought out an ornate mirror, and handed it to Harry. Seeing his confusion, Sirius spoke up. "This is part of a pair of mirrors, I have the other one. If you ever want to talk to me, about anything, just say my name in the mirror, and touch this rune here, on the handle. My face will appear in it, and we can have a conversation." Sirius then showed Harry the rune he had to touch.

"Sirius where did you get this?"

"Oh this? Your father and I used them all the time back when we were in school. They were great for making big pranks work, or for keeping in touch when we were thrown in separate detentions."

"Wow, that's really cool. I promise that I'll keep it safe, and I'll call you the first chance I get."

"I know you will Harry. Now, it's almost time for the train to leave. And trust me, this will be an exciting year at Hogwarts, you definitely don't want to miss this train."

"You know what's happening to, can you tell me Sirius? When we met Bagman at the World Cup, he hinted at something to, but he was stopped before he told us."

"Sorry Pup, but I can't," Sirius said with a sigh. "And you need to get going now. I promise that you will enjoy this year. And I promise that I will have the mirror on me at all times, so I'll be ready to talk whenever you want." Giving Harry one last hug and a smile, he would wave goodbye before Apparating away, making sure to take the chessboard with him. Harry stood there for a minute, somewhat disappointed at how little time he had spent with Sirius before he heard a loud whistle.

Realizing that the Express was leaving, Harry quickly stuffed the mirror into his jacket, which had thankfully dried out by now, and made his way out of the room. Seeing the doors all over the express begin to close, Harry quickly dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage to the closest of the doors, and started to stuff them inside. He just got Hedwig's cage onto the train, when it began to move. Jumping onto the train, he quickly caught his balance and got out of the way, just as the door closed. Letting out a sigh of relief that he made it, Harry opened Hedwig's cage, letting her fly to his shoulder. When she landed on it, she would cuff him over the head with a wing.

"I'm sorry for shaking your cage so much girl, I had to rush to get you on the train," he would try to explain. Hedwig gave him what amounted to a glare from an owl before giving a hoot and settling herself on his shoulder. Relived that he didn't have to deal with an angry owl, Harry grabbed her cage and started to drag his trunk down the train, looking for the compartment that held Ron and Hermione.

After a good couple minutes of looking in the compartments, which he got glared at a couple of times for when it appeared to be just a couple in one, he finally found the two of them towards the back of the train, their compartment right next to Malfoy's. After making sure that Malfoy didn't see him, he slid into Ron and Hermione's compartment, halting whatever conversation they had been having quickly.

"It's about bloody time you showed up," Ron said, breaking the tension. "What did that greasy git want from you anyways?" Harry paused for a minute, not sure what to say. He knew that if he told them that it was actually Sirius, that Hermione would likely dig into him again. Hoisting his trunk up so it could sit above them, he began to think of a convincing lie.

"He, um, pretty much said that he knew I helped Sirius escape last year," Harry lied. "He said that I better not cross him again or he'd drop some kind of potion in my pumpkin juice and make me tell the truth." Harry then glanced to Ron and Hermione, hoping that they bought his lie. While Ron looked convinced, and was currently cursing under his breath, Hermione didn't look so.

"I highly doubt he would even consider doing that," she would say in a lecturing voice. "He is a teacher, and if something like that were to happen, he would end up in a lot of trouble. He wouldn't risk his career for something so childish. Not to mention that Dumbledore would likely be furious with him if he did. So that is obviously not what he wanted. Why won't you tell the truth Harry?"

"I am telling the truth, that is what he said," he replied hotly, doing his best to look furious. "Why would I lie to you two about something like that?"

"I believe you mate," Ron replied, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Everyone knows he has it out for you. And you saw how furious he was last year when Sirius got away again. I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that. And he'd probably get away with it to just because he was a Slytherin, bunch of slimy snakes they are." With Ron finished with his light rant, Hermione looked ready to retort, but simply huffed and brought out one of her books and began to read.

* * *

_The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Harry bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for them to share._

_Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking "Troy - Mullet - Moran!" but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way._

_Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match._

_"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."_

_"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville. . ._

_He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum._

_"Oh wow," said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand._

_"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box -"_

_"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."_

_Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar._

_"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," said Harry coolly._

_"Weasley. . . what is that?" said Malfoy, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the moldy lace cuff very obvious._

_Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled._

_"Look at this!" said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety. . ._

_"Eat dung, Malfoy!" said Ron, the same color as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly._

_"So. . . going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know. . . you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won. . . ."_

"Maybe he will enter," Harry spoke up, causing everyone else in the compartment to go silent. "I'm thinking of entering myself actually, I think it might be kind of fun." Harry then gave Malfoy a smirk. "We all know that even if you enter, you won't get in through. After all, your daddy can't buy you into it." While Ron, Hermione, and Neville were staring at Harry in a mixture of shock and confusion, Malfoy stood there, gapping like a fish. He quickly recovered though and gave Harry his best sneer.

"Well then, I suppose we will see then won't we Potter?" With that said, Malfoy left the compartment, his goons following him out. Letting out a sigh of relief, Harry got up and closed the compartment. Seeing that Ron was turning red, clearly ready to explode about what he said, Harry held up a hand and took a seat.

"I don't know what is actually going on, I just wanted to shut Malfoy up," he said calmly. "I think it worked out pretty well didn't it?" On hearing those words, Ron quickly calmed down and got a smile on his face.

"What do you think is actually going on this year that is such a big secret," he let out after cooling down. "I mean, mum said something when the train began to leave, but we couldn't get anything out of her. It's got to do something with the rules though, she did say that they were changing some." Harry, Neville, and Ron then began to discuss what could be happening, with only the occasional input from Hermione who was clearly still frustrated with Harry.

Time passed and they all changed into their school robes, and they soon arrived at the pitch-dark Hogsemede station. _As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads. _Hedwig seemed to decide that she didn't want to get soaked, and went back into her cage, giving Harry an affectionate nip as he left.

_"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform._

_"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"_

_"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle._

* * *

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I was originally planning on making it a bit longer, but I think that this was a good enough ending point. All things in Italics are taken from the Goblet of Fire. **

**Now, onto Reviewer response.**

**Guest- Thank you for the review.**

**emprissris- Thank you for the advice. I didn't realize that I was doing that, but I am now working on changing it. Hopefully you can see it in this chapter.**

**autumngold- Harry will get to spend some more time with Sirius, eventually. I am planning for this to go on for a while so that is definitely in the cards. But, until then, he now has the mirror to keep in contact.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and survived the end of the world. As you all know, Christmas is coming soon. And all I want from my readers is some reviews. If I get some, you might all get a little gift. See ya next time.**


	4. The Announcements

**Well here we go, another chapter of the Breaker's Apprentice. At the time that I am publishing this I have 6 Reviews, 32 Favs, 41 Alerts, and 1 C2! Thank you my readers for following my story. I hope that means I'm doing a good job. Sadly, a good deal of this chapter is taken from the Goblet of Fire, I'll put an indication of where it starts and stops. If enough people think it's unnecessary, I'll make an edit to indicate what pages are used instead.**

**However, a big announcement will be made story wise in this chapter, and things will start to really branch off after that. Well, here we go.**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. If I did, there would be a lot more spells known to us fans.**

**Chapter 4: The Announcements.**

_Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase. _

_"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!" _

_A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped - narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry's feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks. People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. Harry looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again._

It was at that time, that a group of Seventh years entered, causing Peeves to go after them. Seeing an opportunity to get out of the line of fire, all of the other students that had already entered rushed to the Great Hall, the 'Golden Trio,' included. Just as everyone that had escaped Peeves got into the Great hall, Professor McGonagall started to make her way out. Seeing so many soaked students, some with red pieces of rubber on their heads, she let out a sigh and cast a area wide drying charm.

"I'm going to assume that Peeves is responsible for this," she asked in a resigned voice. All of the students nodded, with some muttering that a group of Seventh years were taking care of it. Letting out a frustrated sigh, McGonagall made her way out of the Great Hall, casting drying charms on the students and floor she came across as she went to get the First years. Now decently dry, the students all began to make their way to the various House Tables, with Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Ron taking a seat at the far end of the Gryffindor table, where Nearly Headless Nick was floating nearby.

**-Taken from **_**Goblet of Fire**_** -**

_"Good evening," he said, beaming at them. _

_"Says who?" said Harry, taking off his sneakers and emptying them of water. "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting. I'm starving." _

_The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, Harry hadn't been present at one since his own. He was quite looking forward to it. Just then, a highly excited, breathless voice called down the table. _

_"Hiya, Harry!" _

_It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was something of a hero._

_"Hi, Colin," said Harry warily. _

_"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!" _

_"Er - good," said Harry. "He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?" _

_"Er - yeah, all right," said Harry. He turned back to Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick. "Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?" he said. He was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor._

_"Oh no, not necessarily," said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"_

_Harry looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years, and there was another empty chair too, and Harry couldn't think who else was missing. _

_"Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers. _

_They had never yet had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Harry's favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, who had resigned last year. He looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there. _

_"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" said Hermione, looking anxious. _

_Harry scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape - Harry's least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose - Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days. _

_On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Harry guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very center of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. Harry glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it. _

_"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Harry, "I could eat a hippogriff." _

_The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school - all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what Harry recognized as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. The coat was so big for him that it hooked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he had lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, I fell in the lake! He looked positively delighted about it. _

_Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song: _

_A thousand years or more ago,_

_When I was newly sewn, There lived four wizards of renown, _

_Whose names are still well known: _

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, _

_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, _

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fin. _

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, _

_They hatched a daring plan _

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began._

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own house, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach._

_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

_Prized far beyond the rest;_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best;_

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission; _

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition._

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng,_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone? _

_Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead!_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,_

_I've never yet been wrong,_

_I'll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell where you belong!_

_The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished._

_"That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us," said Harry, clapping along with everyone else. _

_"Sings a different one every year," said Ron. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one." _

_Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment. _

_"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table. _

_"Ackerley, Stewart!" _

_A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool. _

_"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat. _

_Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him._

_"Baddock, Malcolm!" _

_"SLYTHERIN!" _

_The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Harry could see Malfoy clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Harry wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down. _

_"Branstone, Eleanor!" _

_"HUFFLEPUFF!" _

_"Cauldwell, Owen!" _

_"HUFFLEPUFF!" _

_"Creevey, Dennis!" _

_Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table. About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming - a misleading impression, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide - _

_"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. _

_Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother._

_"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!" _

_"Cool!" said Colin, just as excitedly. "It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!" _

_"Wow!" said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster. _

_"Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one with the black hair and glasses? See him? Know who he is, Dennis?" _

_Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs. _

_The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's. _

_"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, massaging his stomach. _

_"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food," said Nearly Headless Nick as "Madley, Laura!" became a Hufflepuff. _

_"Course it is, if you're dead," snapped Ron. _

_"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table. "We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?" _

_Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row. _

_"Pritchard, Graham!" _

_"SLYTHERIN!" _

_"Quirke, Orla!" _

_"RAVENCLAW!" _

_And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away. _

_"About time," said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate. _

_Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome. _

_"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in." _

_"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes. _

_Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates. _

_"Aaah, 'at's be'er," said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato. _

_"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier." _

_"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak. _

_"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast - well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council - the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance - but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down." _

_The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent specter covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves. _

_"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?" _

_"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits -" _

_Clang. _

_Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention. _

_"There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?" _

_"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred." _

_"I've never seen one!" said Hermione. _

_"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning...see to the fires and so on...I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?" _

_Hermione stared at him. _

_"But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And - and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?" _

_Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck. _

_"Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!" _

_Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her. _

_"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. "Oops - sorry, 'Arry -" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!" _

_"Slave labor," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labor." _

_And she refused to eat another bite. _

_The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings. _

_"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!" _

_But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up. _

_When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard. _

_"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) "I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. _

_"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." _

_The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. _

_"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." _

_"What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbhedore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -" _

_But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. _

_A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. _

_A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped. _

_The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. _

_One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness. _

_The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. _

_The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students. _

_"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody." _

_It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him._

_Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot._

_Dumbledore cleared his throat._

_"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year." _

_"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly. _

_The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively. _

_"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar." _

_Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. _

_"Er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament...well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. _

_"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued." _

_"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago. _

_"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. _

_"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money." _

_"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more. _

_"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This -" Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."_

**-Back to TBA-**

As excited chatter began to make it's way up and down the tables again, Dumbledore looked at each of his staff members one last time before nodding his head. McGonagall got up and went into a door behind the staff table, and Dumbledore cleared his throat again.

"I do have one more announcement to make," Dumbledore called out, silencing the Hall instantly. "Another old tradition will be returning to Hogwarts this year. In times of old, groups of students were often selected to become apprentices in certain careers. I am proud to announce that we will be attempting to see if this tradition can be brought back this year."

At that moment, McGonagall made her way out of the room behind the staff table, levitating a pedestal that had an ancient looking goblet on it that was flickering with sapphire blue flames. Everyone in the school stared at it, entranced at the blue flames, which seemed to be forming strange shapes now.

"There is only one type of apprenticeship that will be offered this year," Dumbledore said, regaining everyone's attention. "And it will be as a Curse-Breaker's apprentice. Only eight students have a chance at getting this apprenticeship, two from each house, one male, and one female. These students will depart the day after their names are chosen and return at least once a month to turn in any homework that the teachers will have put together for them to do over the month. The names will be chosen tomorrow night, so classes will not continue for two days."

As Dumbledore paused to allow everyone a chance to digest this, many students began to talk amongst each other, some asking what an apprenticeship was, while others were discussing the benefits of entering.

"This sounds like an amazing opportunity," Hermione would whisper loud enough for Harry and Ron to hear. "An apprenticeship would look amazing on any job application. And it seems right up my alley to. I spoke to Bill while he was at the Burrow and he mentioned that Runes were a part of his work. If I enter, I'm sure to get in, since I'm the only Gryffindor taking Ancient Runes."

"But Hermione," Ron would whine. "If you go, then whose going to help Harry and me with our homework or classwork?"

"You'll just have to do it on your own," Hermione would say hotly. "It will be good for you to not rely on me. While I was planning on looking into helping House-Elves more, getting an apprenticeship would give me more support when I do start something. Now be quiet you two, Dumbledore is speaking again."

"Now that you have taken a chance to digest this information, I will say that there are a few requirements," he said to the nervous looks of some of the students. "First, you must be either a third, fourth, or sixth year to be considered by the Goblet of Fire. Second, you must write your name in the standard way for agreeing to a magical contract."

Here, many of the purebloods smirked lightly, to the confusion of most of the muggleborns. While Hermione looked confused for a minute, she soon smirked, figuring that all she had to do was sign her name.

"Finally, and this is for the sixth years amongst you, if you enter your name to be considered for the apprenticeship, you can not enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

Here, many of the sixth years groaned, adding to the seventh and fifth years that were disappointed on not getting the chance. Fred and George particularly looked conflicted, not sure whether they wanted to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament, or get a chance at seeing the world like they knew Curse-Breakers did.

"That is all I have to say," Dumbledore finished. "The Goblet will be left here overnight, so anyone can come at anytime to enter without being out after curfew. But, I'm sure that we will not be getting any entrants until the morning, as I'm sure many of you wish to contact family to confirm that they are okay with you entering. So for now, it is time for bed."

Dumbledore then walked into the room behind him, all of the teachers following behind him while the students began to leave the Great Hall, being herded by the Prefects. Many students gave the Goblet one last look before leaving, a variety of expressions being shown. As Harry, Hermione, and Ron made their way to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione began to tell the two boys that she would put together a study table for them to use while she was being apprenticed, much to their annoyance.

Upon arriving at the Common Room, they split up as they made their way to their beds, tired. While Hermione was thinking of what she would learn as a Curse-Breaker, Harry and Ron were fantasizing about being in the Tri-Wizard tournament.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the Great Hall, a lone figure was hidden under an Invisibility cloak, watching the Goblet of Fire with one eye, while his magical eye kept an eye on his surroundings. To say the fake Moody was worried was an understatement, he hadn't gotten any glimpse of this whole Curse-Breaker apprenticeship thing from the real Moody's mind. He knew that if Potter had entered, his masters plans could be ruined beyond measure. Routinely stunning each student that would come down to enter the tournament, and checking that they were entering themselves before unstunning them, he knew he was in for a long 24 hours. His master's plans needed to succeed.

* * *

**Well, that's it for this chapter, sorry that a good deal of it was taken from the Goblet of Fire. But, you now get to see where things are going to start to branch off. I'd say more, but next chapter will be the announcement of who gets in. Now, for reviewer response.**

**autumngold- I think it's kind of obvious that that Harry won't be in the tournament, but that doesn't mean that Ron won't get angry at him.**

**Guest- Harry will become magically powerful, but I plan on it being gradual. He also won't master every single branch of magic, but I have a plan to introduce some new magic ideas that I think will satisfy some people.**

**Well, that's it for this chapter. Sorry it took so long and hopefully I'll have another one out sometime this weekend.**


	5. The Goblet's Choices

**Sorry for the delay, and welcome one and all to another chapter of the Breaker's Apprentice. At the time that I am publishing this I have 12 Reviews, 45 Favs, 62 Alerts, and 1 C2. I am happy to say that after last chapter's large amount of content pretty much taken right from the Goblet of Fire that it will not happen again. That's right readers, from here on out the story is going to branch off and out. Another thing I'd like to note is that I've edited the first two chapters so that I do not use the word 'would' all the time, so be sure to go back and read them if they annoyed you. Anyways, that's enough for here. Reviewer response will be at the bottom, along with a request, and a slight gift to you all.**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. If I did, he would have actually acted like a teenager around Book Three, hormones and all.**

**Chapter 5: The Goblet's Choices.**

The first thoughts into Harry's sleep addled mind the morning after returning to Hogwarts was that someone was shaking him. Grunting, he swatted the hands that were shaking him away feebly, and retreated further under the covers. He could hear someone muttering something, though it was muffled from being under his covers. Hearing soft footsteps walk away, Harry began to settle in under his covers when they were suddenly thrown off of him, followed by some water being splashed in his face.

"Bloody hell Harry, wake up," a voice, Ron, said, watching with some amusement at Harry's sputtering. "Come on, we have to get ready or Hermione will be back again. And I really don't want to know what she would do to wake us up."

The water being splashed on his face had erased any thoughts from Harry's head about getting some more sleep. Looking outside, Harry found that the sun was only just peeking over the Forbidden Forest, and determined that it was only a little after dawn.

"Why does Hermione want us up this early," Harry asked in an annoyed tone. Though he was waiting for Ron's response, Harry had already resigned himself to the fact that he would have to be up, and began to search through his trunk for a pair of robes to wear. By the time he had some out, Ron finally registered Harry's words, having been looking for some robes himself.

"Oh, I think she mentioned something about wanting to be the first one to enter in that Curse-Breaker thing," he said, starting to get dressed. "I reckon she thinks that if she's the first one to enter, she's bound to get in. Really pointless in my opinion, don't know why she even wants to enter. I mean, sure from what I saw when my family visited Bill last summer being a Curse-Breaker would be fun. But it would be better if she were here with us. I mean, without her, who is going to help us get our homework and classwork done on time? And she's going to miss the Tri-Wizard Tournament to. She sounded so interested in other schools back on the train."

At this point, Harry had started to tune out Ron's ranting, not really wanting to hear anything about it any more. He was still ticked off at Hermione for how she had acted towards that letter Sirius had sent. It seemed to him however, that Hermione had either decided to forget the whole thing happened and hoped that he did to. That, or she was so focused on getting into the apprenticeship thing that she was trying to make amends in case she got in, which she probably thought was a guarantee.

Harry decided to make her wait though, feeling that it would be at least a minor bit of revenge for waking him up so early. It was due to this that he ignored Ron's, "What are you doing, we need to get downstairs soon," as he went into the bathroom attached to the dorm to take a shower before he started the day. Having decided to take a nice long shower, it wasn't until a half an hour later that Harry descended the stairs to the Common Room, smirking at the thoroughly irked looking Hermione, and giving a sympathetic look to a miserable looking Ron.

"What took you so long to get down here Harry," Hermione began to rant. "Ron said that he woke you up a good half an hour ago. I wanted to be the first one to enter for the chance to get an apprenticeship. And that isn't going to happen anymore since at least three sixth years have already went down to the Great Hall. You know what, I want to get down to the Great Hall and enter before anyone else can. But don't think that means that we are done with this conversation Harry. You know how much this could mean to me."

With that said, Hermione made her way through the Common Room, a slightly amused Ron and annoyed Harry following her. The trio would go down to the Great Hall in silence, Hermione to focused to speak, Ron enjoying the silence, and Harry debating going back to the Common Room to try and sleep more. By the time the trio reached the Great Hall, Hermione would let out a sigh of relief at the sight of only a few people in there, and none of them standing in front of the Goblet.

"Wish me luck," Hermione said in a chipper voice, making her way toward the Goblet quickly. Upon reaching it, Harry and Ron, who had taken seats nearby at the Gryffindor table, watched as she reached into her bag and pulled out what looked like a rolled up scroll. Ron snorted somewhat, causing Harry to raise an eyebrow, before Hermione dropped the scroll into the Goblet, which caused the flames to flare slightly. A satisfied smile on her face, Hermione made her way over to where Harry and Ron were sitting before taking a seat herself, placing some food on her plate.

"I thought that you weren't going to eat anything made by 'Slave Labor,'" Ron said in a questioning tone at the sight of Hermione eating with fervor he usually ate with.

"I wasn't originally, but I decided that it wouldn't do anything," she responded between bites. "I'm going to use the free day to head to the library to look up some things. Since I'm likely going to be gone most of the first half of the year for the Apprenticeship, I figure it would be best if I get in as much research as possible so that when I get back, I can get started right away." Continuing to shovel down food with haste, Hermione didn't notice Ron's snort of amusement again, which caused Harry to mouth what was so funny. Ron just shrugged before his eyes flicked to Hermione once, and then the cup.

Harry was only half way through his breakfast, with Ron on his third course, when Hermione stood up from the table, placing her bag on her shoulder.

"Well, you know where I'll be. Feel free to join me when you are done, I could really use all the help I can get. Oh, and I'll write up your study schedules tonight after the Goblet makes it's choice. And Harry, I'm going to borrow Hedwig to let my parent's know around lunch. See you two later." Hermione then left before Harry could even give her permission to use Hedwig, which he wasn't so sure about even doing. When Hermione was finally gone, Harry turned towards Ron and gave him a pointed look.

"So, are you going to tell me what was so funny about Hermione entering," he asked in a curious tone. Ron opened his mouth to begin to speak when he saw something going on at the Goblet. So instead, he gestured for Harry to look at it, which he did. Standing in front of the Goblet was one of their fellow Gryffindors, Katie Bell. Harry watched as she nervously reached into her pocket and took out a small piece of parchment. From where Harry was sitting, he could see that the ink on it appeared to be a crimson red, almost blood like. Katie then dropped the parchment into the Goblet, which caused the flames to turn scarlet and gold, and take the shape of a lion before settling.

"Why did the flames do that for Katie but not Hermione," Harry wondered aloud. Without waiting for Ron to respond, he began to think back at what was different with Hermione's entrance from Katie's. His eyes widened and he turned to Ron, who was looking at him expectantly. "You have to sign it in blood don't you?"

"Yup, considering how Hermione acted about sending that bit of blood earlier in the summer, she probably didn't think of it," Ron whispered.

"But, why didn't you tell her? Why did you just stand by and snicker while she entered wrong?"

"Because, this way she stays here and helps us through the year," Ron said with a shrug. "Besides, do you think she would have believed me if I said it took blood? If I even mentioned it she'd go off again, and the last thing I wanted was to be yelled at this early in the morning. Though, I did have to listen to her rant about how you were going to make her late." At this, Ron gave Harry a slight glare, to which he responded by rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to get back at her for waking us up so early." Harry then finished off what food was left on his plate before standing up. "So, what do you want to do today since it's a free day? Go for a fly or something?" Ron simply shook his head.

"Nah, I figure I'll stick around in here and see who all enters. That way if Hermione asks why I didn't go help her out in the library, I can say I was checking on who else was entering or something like that. Hopefully I don't get yelled at by Snape or anything."

"Maybe I'll stay here to then. This would likely be the last place Hermione looks for us."

"Nah, you go ahead and go flying. With no Quidditch this year, you're not going to have that many excuses. Besides, I could just see Snape giving you a detention if you hang out around here. Probably claiming that you were going to sabotage some of the snakes or something. Don't see why you would though, the less of them around this year the better in my opinion."

"Alright, if you're sure, I'll be on the Quidditch pitch if you need me then," Harry said, beginning to make his way out of the Great Hall. Ron simply grunted in response before going back to eating, making sure to keep one of his eyes on the Goblet so he could back up his excuse to Hermione.

Harry made his way through the halls of Hogwarts quietly, moving out of the way of the crowds of people that were just waking up and heading down to the Great Hall. Making it back to the Gryffindor Common Room, he muttered a couple of "Hello's," to those sitting in the Common Room that he knew, before heading up to the Fourth Year Dormitories. On reaching the empty room, Harry couldn't help but sigh at how soft his bed looked.

~I'm too wide-awake to try and fall asleep again,~ he thought. Looking away from his bed, he made his way to his trunk and started to pull his things out of it until he finally found one of his most prized possessions, his Firebolt. Grabbing it with care, his eyes roamed over it, looking for any imperfections. Finding none, he piled everything back into his trunk, before standing up and making his way to his pillow. Lifting it, he carefully took out the mirror Sirius had gave him back at the platform, not having time to put it in his trunk since then.

After debating for a minute on seeing if Sirius was awake enough to talk, he placed it in his trunk, deciding to talk to Sirius after the Goblet made it's choice that night. Especially if Hermione got chosen, he could ask Sirius for some help on schoolwork throughout the year. He was a fully qualified wizard after all, and would probably be really helpful. Decisions made, Harry made his way out of the Common Room and started to head to the Quidditch Pitch, intent on trying out a few of the moves he had seen at the World Cup.

* * *

By the time Harry had decided he was finished with his flying, having pulled off most of the moves he had seen the Seekers at the World Cup do, the sun was beginning to close in on the horizon, signifying that it was almost sundown. After a quick shower in the Quidditch locker rooms, he made his way to the Gryffindor Common Room. On arriving, he was met with a sight he had hoped to not see that day, an annoyed Hermione Granger.

"Where have you been all day Harry," she asked, before her eyes settled on his broom. "Have you been out flying all day? Why were you wasting your time doing that when I needed your help? I've spent most of the day doing research, and I just finished drawing up study schedules for you and Ron for when I'm gone. If you had been helping out, I might have gotten more research done. At least Ron was doing something helpful today. Meanwhile, you just flew the day away. Wait, where are you going? Don't ignore me Harry."

Harry's annoyance was clearly visible on his face as he walked away from Hermione. Having tuned her out about half way through her rant, he began to make his way upstairs, not overly concerned with the fact that she was following him, trying to get him to listen. It wasn't until after he had safely put his Firebolt away that he turned to her and raised a hand. Causing her to go silent with annoyance, but curiosity at what he had to say.

"Listen, I don't know what your problem has been with me lately. Ever since I got that letter from Sirius asking for my blood you've been outright ignoring me. But ever since they made that bloody announcement about an apprenticeship, you've been acting like nothing happened. Like I could just forget about the way you've been acting, about how you talked about Sirius. Well you know what, I haven't forgotten, and I won't just forget at the drop of a hat. So until you apologize, just don't talk to me."

At the end of his rant, Harry was breathing hard, relieved at finally getting all of this off his chest. Looking at Hermione however, showed that she wasn't relieved. Her face was red, what for he didn't know. The thing that he could identify though, was the tears that were building in her eyes. Anger quickly deflating, Harry opened his mouth to say something when Hermione let out a choked sob before rushing out of the room.

Sighing and mentally berating himself, Harry went back into his trunk and withdrew what seemed to be a blank piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said with his wand on the parchment.

Ignoring the familiar writing of the former Marauders, he quickly looked around on the map; absently noticing that most of the school was already in the Great Hall. He finally found Hermione's name, but it appeared that she had holed herself up in her dormitories. ~Dang it, I can't get in there,~ he thought. ~I guess I'll just have to apologize to her later.~ Deactivating the map, he replaced it back in his trunk before beginning to head out, giving one last glance to the girl's dormitories before he left.

* * *

Arriving in the almost filled Great Hall, he took an empty seat next to a very satisfied looking Ron.

"What's got you so happy," Harry asked questioningly, doing his best to hide his mood. Seeing that most of the people were finishing up their food, he started to pile some food on his plate, determining his argument with Hermione must have lasted through a good bit of dinner.

"Oh, nothing much," Ron said, still wearing his satisfied smirk and not noticing Harry's mood. "I just got to laze around in here all day, I wasn't the only one either. Food was always on the table, and all I really needed to do was keep an eye on who was putting their names in the cup so I could tell Hermione. Speaking of her, she was looking for you. She better hurry up and get back here soon, I think that Dumbledore is ready to announce who got in."

And indeed he did, Dumbledore's eyes, which normally looked over the Hall during meals, were focused on the Goblet. Though he couldn't be to sure from where he was sitting, Harry almost detected a pleased look in his eyes. Most of the other teachers however, did not look so focused. In fact, many of them were bending over pieces of parchment, likely finishing up setting up the homework for the potential apprentices. Mad-Eye however, looked the worse of them. Dark circles and bags under his eyes, it looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night.

Shrugging it off, Harry began to finish his meal, eyes only glancing up occasionally to watch as a few students, obviously with last minute nerves, would head up to enter their names. After most people began to finish their dinner, and a few more stragglers made their way into the Hall, Dumbledore rose from his seat, causing a hush to fall over the hall and all the food to disappear.

"The time has almost come for the Goblet to make its decision," he announced. "If anyone else would like to enter, I advise you do it now." Pausing for a minute, his gaze roamed over the hall, looking for anyone else who wanted to enter. Seeing nobody come forward, he clapped his hands once, which extinguished all the lights except for the one given by the Goblet.

"When your name has been announced, please make your way to the room behind the staff table. Your Curse-Breaker Master will be waiting there to give further details. And make sure you visit each of your teacher's tomorrow to collect your assignments. Now then, on to the selection." With those words, Dumbledore made his way towards the Goblet, at what seemed like an agonizingly slow pace to everyone watching.

When he finally stepped close enough to it, the flames began to change. What once was plain blue now began to ripple in a variety of blues, greens, reds, and yellows. The flames began to leap out and dance, changing into each of the House mascots once before settling. Finally, the flames stopped changing, and were now a yellow and black mixture in the shape of a badger. The flaming badger made it's way towards Dumbledore, before exploding in a show of sparks, leaving two pieces of paper to float down into Dumbeldore's hands.

"From Hufflepuff," he said loudly, breaking everyone out of their amazement at the show they just saw. "The Goblet has chosen Clarissa Wilson and Ernest Macmillan to become Apprentices."

A moment of silence followed, before the Hufflepuff table broke into polite cheering. While there were some people who looked annoyed they didn't get in but a fourth year did, they still cheered with the rest, though it was strained. The two people who had been chosen then stood up, allowing Harry to get a good look at them.

Ernie, or Ernest, hadn't seemed to change too much since Harry last remembered talking to him, at the end of Second year when he apologized for thinking Harry was the heir. He seemed to have grown a bit taller, though it was obvious that he was still a bit larger then most, and his hair had grown a little.

The girl though, Clarissa, was a new face for Harry. From where he was sitting, he could tell that she was older then him, likely a sixth year, and had brown hair that fell to her mid back. When she stepped into the light of the Goblet though, her features became clearer. Though he was a bit away, he had to admit that she wasn't that bad looking. Her face, while somewhat plain, had something about it that made her look rather cute in his opinion. Other then that, he noticed that she seemed to be wearing a large smile.

As the two Hufflepuffs made their way towards the room behind the staff table, the flames of the Goblet began to change again. This time though, they became green and silver and took the shape of a slithering snake. The fire snake put on a bit of a show, even hissing at some of the Slytherin's much to the other Houses amusement, before doing the same thing as the badger and exploding in a shower of sparks and two pieces of parchment.

"From Slytherin, the Goblet has chosen Daphne Greengrass, and Lucien Chance to become Apprentices."

After saying that, the Slytherin table gave a quick burst of polite applause before going silent. Looking at them showed that most of them had neutral looks on their face, choosing to not show any emotion at this point in time. Looking at the Gryffindors however, showed many happy looking faces, obviously they were glad at having two less Slytherin's to deal with this year. All eyes in the hall then locked on the two figures that rose up from the table of the snakes.

Though he never talked to her, mainly because she rarely spoke, Harry recognized the face of Daphne Greengrass as she stepped into the Goblet's light briefly. Her face showed no emotion, being icier then that of most of the Slytherin's. Her long blonde hair seemed to shine briefly in the light, which allowed the hall to see her more clearly. While no male in the school would deny that she was one of the best looking girls there, no one ever said anything. Whether it was the fact that she was given the Ice Queen, or something else Harry wasn't sure. But as far as he was concerned, she never gave him any trouble, so she stayed off his radar unlike most of the other Slytherin's in their year.

Lucien Chance was another new person for Harry. While he could tell that Lucien seemed to be rather tall, and had black hair that seemed to blend in with the darkened hall, the boy didn't step into the Goblet's light like everyone else had, seeming to want to hide his appearance.

"I'm glad that we have two less snakes to deal with this year, but I kinda wish that Malfoy was going," Ron whispered to Harry. "It would make things a lot better if we didn't have to hear him constantly go on about his father and shit."

Anything else Ron was about to say was soon hushed as the flames began to change again. This time, they turned blue and bronze, an odd combination when you really looked at it, and took the shape of a raven. Quicker then the badger, the raven went to Dumbledore and burst into a shower of sparks and two pieces of parchment, giving one loud caw before doing so.

"From Ravenclaw, the Goblet has chosen Luna Lovegood and Roger Davies to become Apprentices."

Like the two houses before them, the Ravenclaws broke into a polite applause. And while Harry could only see a few of them, a couple of the upper year girls looked more happy then sad for some reason. It was then that two figures rose from the table.

Luna Lovegood was a person that Harry had only heard of in passing around the Burrow, but never seen. From what he could remember, she was Ginny's childhood friend, but stopped being so a couple of years ago. That information alone told him that she was likely younger then any of the other people chosen, and his thoughts were confirmed on getting a good look at her in the Goblet's light. The first thing that he noticed was that her dirty blonde hair was short, only falling to her neck. The next thing he noticed was that she was short, likely one of the shortest of her year. Before he noticed it though, she was gone, skipping into the room behind the staff.

Roger Davies was one of the few Ravenclaws that he could actually pick out though. While he didn't really seem to change much, still looking like the epitome of a pure blood while not looking conceited, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain seemed to have an air of satisfaction hanging around him, judging by the smug smile he was wearing when he came into the Goblet's light. If this had all been going on during a year when Quidditch would actually be happening Harry would have been happier about not having to worry about Ravenclaw's captain being there.

It was then that the flames of the Goblet began to preform their final change. Changing to red and gold, a large majestic lion came to be in place of the flames. The lion prowled around the hall for a little bit, illuminating everyone in its warm glow. A short moment later the lion then made it's way to Dumbledore, giving one last roar before bowing it's head and exploding in a shower of sparks and parchment. With the Goblet now extinguished, Dumbledore used the sparks to read the two names.

"From Gryffindor, the Goblet has chosen Katie Bell, and Harry Potter to become Apprentices."

* * *

**I would call myself evil for leaving you all with a cliffhanger, but JKR did it to so I guess I'm not. Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and I am going to try and get another chapter published before to long. Anyways, onto other things. First, Reviewer response!**

**Emma-Girl and redstickbonbon- Thanks for the positive response, nice to know that people are enjoying.**

**Raven and the Wolf- Only thing coming up next is a bit of a more in depth explanation of the whole Curse-Breaker thing, followed by a shopping trip for all involved. After that, well you'll have to wait and see.**

**Now then onto my request, I got a few reviews on previous chapters saying that I used the word 'would' way to much. I went back and fixed that, but I'd really appreciate it if someone would look over my previous chapters and do some grammer checking. If anyone feels up to it, just PM me any errors or leave a review. **

**Next up, my little present to you all. While I didn't get that many reviews, I still feel like you all deserve a treat. So, I will say that the girl Harry is paired with will be one of his fellow Apprentices, but that's it for now. Well, this is getting kind of long, so I'm going to wrap this up. Leave any questions in a review and I will answer them, as long as they are on the most recent chapter of course. See you all next time.**


	6. Explanations

**Hello Readers, so sorry about the long wait between updates, and I have one word to explain the wait. College. I underestimated the amount of work I would have to do during the first few weeks, so I've only been able to write any of this late at night, at my job, when no one is around. Anyways, as of right now, I have 21 reviews, 2 C2's, 63 Favs, and 97 Follows. Thank you all so much for the reviews on the last chapter, and while this chapter might not have much action, it will explain things. As always, Reviewer responses will be at the bottom, and I hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. If I did, he would have started showing that he was going through puberty around third year, rather then fifth.**

**Chapter 6: Explanations.**

Harry froze in shock at Dumbledore's words. While the rest of Gryffindor was politely cheering for the two apprentices, Harry was trying to work out how he could have gotten picked for something he didn't enter. He wasn't able to think for long however, as a hand was place on his shoulder.

"Mate, I know this is a shock, but you have to go," the voice of Ron Weasley said. "You remember what Dumbledore said, you're magically bound to do this now. We will figure this out later, it will be like another mystery for us to solve."

"But, I don't want to do this," Harry responded. "I wanted this to be a normal school year, with us watching the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I don't want to be a Curse-Breaker or anything. And Hermione will be even more pissed at me if I go through with this." A sigh was heard next to him, along with someone walking towards him.

"I know Harry, but I'll try to talk her down. You have to get going though, like I said, we'll figure this out later."

A sigh passed through Harry's lips as the sound of a door opening and closing made it's way through the hall. Standing up himself, he began to make his way through the Great Hall, which was slowly becoming light again as candles began to light themselves. By the time he reached the door every other Apprentice had gone through, the Hall was fully lite again, and everyone was staring at him. Feeling himself become slightly embarrassed, he quickly went through the door and closed it behind him, leaving him in a brightly lit hallway.

With a deep breath, Harry made his way through the hall, feeling tense as he went back to wondering how he was entered in all of this. Remembering how Ron said his signature in blood was needed, he thought back to any instance where someone would have gotten his blood. Quickly dismissing Sirius as being responsible, as he was stuck wherever he was hidden, he thought back to all those times he spent in the hospital wing.

"Well, that narrows it down a lot," he snorts sarcastically. "I have no clue why the Headmaster or any of the teachers would want me in this. Though Snape might do it just so he doesn't have to deal with me for most of the year. I'm really going to have to talk with Sirius about this though. He may have some idea on how to help me out of this, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it until then." Drawing himself out of his musing, Harry realized that he was right in front of the door leading to another room. Taking a deep breath, Harry opened the door and walked inside.

The second he started to walk in the room, attracting the attention of everyone in it. Realizing that they were obviously waiting for him, Harry's eyes darted around the room quickly, making sure to take note of everyone's appearance now that the light was better.

The first person that he noticed was his fellow Gryffindor and Quidditch teammate, Katie Bell. She looked pretty much the same as she had last year, except for the fact that she seemed to have grown some.

The next person that he noticed, who was giving him barely even a glance at his entrance, was the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, Roger Davies. Now that he could see him in better light, it was obvious that nothing really seemed to change about his appearance since the last he saw him. However, like he detected in the hall, he seemed to have a slight air of satisfaction, and superiority.

He then turned to look at the Hufflepuff girl that he knew nothing about, Clarissa Wilson. Now that he could see her closer up, and in a better light, he could safely say that he was right before when he thought that she was cute. While she didn't look like someone who would stand out in a crowd, she seemed to have this air of excitement around her. Apparently, he was caught with his observing of her, and she turned to look at him. She gave him a slight smile, before turning away from him.

His gaze then fell onto the other of the two unknowns to him, the sixth year Slytherin Lucien Chance. The boy hadn't even turned to give him so much as a glance; instead his gaze was focused on the flickering firelight that was the main source of light for the room. His features though, were now more illuminated for Harry to see. His face, while it held some of that regal look most purebloods had, seemed thinner then should be normal. His black hair was straight, very much unlike Harry's, and it framed a very pale face, and what appeared to be purple eyes.

Harry shook himself out of wondering how someone's eyes could be purple, and remembered that this person was a Slytherin, and couldn't be trusted. Even if he hadn't even acknowledged him, Harry had picked up from his three years in Gryffindor that the quiet Slytherins were the ones to watch out for.

Speaking of Slytherins, Harry's gaze was drawn to the only person in the room that was actually glaring at him, Daphne Greengrass. Now that he had a closer view of her, he mentally confirmed that she was indeed probably one of the best looking girls in the school. However, it was at this time to, that he realized he was fully experiencing her icy glare for the first time. That glare sent a shiver up Harry's spine and he turned away to try and escape it, the glare seemingly changing her face from pretty, to terrifying.

"I'm surprised that you even entered to become and Apprentice Potter," she said in a quiet, but clearly icy voice. "I don't know why you entered, you have never shown any interest in anything but Quidditch and those friends of yours before. I truly hope that you take this as seriously as you do those other things. If you mess up and end up costing anyone here anything, I will curse you bad enough that you are sent back here." Her piece said, Daphne turned her back on Harry, leaving him standing there in a mixture of shock, and fear.

"Hello Harry Potter," a dreamy voice said from right next to him, causing him to jump some in surprise. "You have many Wrackspurts around your head, I'm not really sure why though. I am pretty sure that they will all be gone by the beginning of winter, though they will get worse first. Also, don't worry about being sent back here either, things will mellow out before the temple."

Harry finally snapped himself out of his surprise, and confusion, to look at the source of the voice that had now begun to ramble on about something called the Rotfang conspiracy. He was mildly surprised that the youngest of the Apprentices, Luna Lovegood. After taking a brief moment to wonder how she got so close to him without his noticing, and what she was talking about, he began to look her over more closely. As he observed before, she was short, even more so then him. Her short blonde hair, strangely enough, had various things in it. Varying from simple pencils, to what looked like an actual crab.

He was ready to ask what was with all the things in her hair when attention was turned, as was he, to the only other Apprentice he knew, Ernie Macmillan.

"Hello Harry, quite the surprise to see you here," he said politely. "Though, I honestly am surprised I ended up here to. I mean, in the beginning I just entered because the chance of becoming and Apprentice was to great to pass up."

"Yea, I guess it was," Harry said nervously. Having determined that he wasn't going to get out of this, he figured he might as well use it as a learning experience. "I mean, I guess I wasn't expecting to get into this either. I haven't even looked at Runes before, so I'm probably going to not be that much help."

"Actually Harry, I doubt that very much," a familiar voice said. Turning quickly, Harry soon found himself looking at the oldest of the Weasley brothers, Bill. "The runes taught here are all just old languages. While they might be useful in translating things you may find, they won't be as much help as many people think. But, more on that later."

~~Bill's POV~

That said, Bill walked from his place in the doorway to right in front of the fireplace, drawing everyone's attention to him as he did so. Bill was wearing similar clothing to what Harry last saw him in. Harry wondered for a second why he was here, when he remembered that Bill was a Curse-Breaker. Harry opened his mouth to say something when Bill raised a hand, causing him to stop and look to see that some of the others in the group were ready to say something as well.

"First off, I'm sure that you all have questions about who I am, and what is going to be happening now," he began. "However, I'm guessing that answering all the questions would take all night, something we do not have. So, I would like for you to hold off until tomorrow at least, alright?" Bill looked at the group in front of him, smirking some at the muttering and glares he was getting for cutting them off.

"Okay now, first things first. I am Bill Weasley, and from this point on, you are all my apprentices. That pretty much means that if I say for you to do something, you will do it. You can question me all you want, but it likely won't be a good idea given how dangerous being a Curse-Breaker is. There is a good chance that you could get seriously injured or die if you don't listen to me. I may not have been doing this long, but I do know what I'm doing."

Pausing in his speech, Bill's gaze swept over the group of students in front of him. While all four of the sixth years had grim, but determined looks on their face's, it was the younger one's he was worried about. The Hufflepuff boy, Ernie he remembered from what Professor Sprout said, looked very nervous and regretful. Luna still had her dreamy expression, which didn't bother Bill as he was used to it from how often she had once stayed over the Burrow.

The Slytherin girl, Daphne if he remembered correctly from Snape's threat about keeping his snakes safe, showed no expression on her face. He had to admit, in his head at least, that it slightly disturbed him at how calm she was acting. Given that she was an heiress though, Occlumency may explain the blank look. Bill's gaze then went to Harry, the person he was most worried about.

When he was informed by the Goblins what his latest assignment was, he had to admit he was surprised. Generally these kinds of things were reserved for the more experienced Curse-Breaker's. However, apparently the Goblins owed Dumbledore a favor, and the Headmaster wanted him leading this little group. Dumbledore had made it quiet clear what his plans were, and it disturbed Bill a little at how Harry was pretty much being forced into this. In the end though, he accepted, knowing it would mean a lot more prestige for him if he had succeeded in this.

Drawing himself out of his thoughts, Bill began to speak again, drawing everyone out of their thoughts.

"Anyways, first I would like to say that I am surprised that three fourth-years, and a third-year were chosen by the Goblet. That means that you for are either very powerful for your age, have some kind of special ability, or have already started to develop your affinities. We will be testing all of those things later though, so don't worry about it for now."

Clearing his throat, he continued.

"Okay, now I think that I will give you our timeline for all of this. Things are going to be split up over the next four months until Yule, which is when the contract binding you to be my apprentice ends. During the first month, we are going to be camping out in a forest. While there, we will get through whatever work your Professors assign you, as well as training you all so you can hold your own. Also, we are going to be working on building at least some form of trust between all of you. To many good Curse-Breakers have died because they don't get along with each other. Before that though, we are going to be stopping by Diagon Alley so you can all get supplies for the camping trip, as I doubt anyone is adequately prepared."

Noticing that Daphne was about to speak up, Bill discreetly sent a Silencing charm at her, which resulted in her huffing in frustration.

"After that, things will become more routine. We will be doing work on at least three different ruins, taking a three-day break at Hogwarts between each one. With a good amount of luck, you should all still be able to see the Tri-Wizard tournament happen."

Seeing Harry and Ernie get ready to speak up as well, he sighed a bit before casting two more Silencing charms, causing confused looks from both.

"Well, that is pretty much everything that is going to be said tonight. I'll give you all a more detailed lecture on what to expect is going to happen when we get to the campsite tomorrow. I expect you all to be at the Gates of Hogwarts by noon, with all your assigned work and trunks, so we can catch the portkey I ordered. If you are late, for any reason that isn't good enough, you will be punished. As I said before, you are all my apprentices now, so what I say goes."

Bill then smirked some and began to make his way out of the room.

~~Normal POV~~

"Daphne, Ernie, and Harry, consider the Silencing Charms I put on you punishment for trying to interrupt me. I am easy going, you know that Harry, but I also take my job very seriously. Your lives are in my hands now, so you need to listen from now on. The charms will have worn off by morning, I will see you all then." With that, Bill exited the room, followed shortly after by Claire, Katie, Lucien, and Roger, which were giving them smirks of amusement.

Slightly red with embarrassment, the fourth years, and Luna, left the room quickly, separating almost as soon as they could.

As Harry began to make his way to Gryffindor tower, he was hit with the realization that Hermione likely was going to be even angrier with him now that he had become an Apprentice and she hadn't. Hoping that Ron would manage to calm her down, or that everyone was already asleep, he approached the Fat Lady and paused, wondering how he would get in.

"Don't worry, Ms. Bell explained your punishment," the portrait said with a slight smirk. "Though, both of Mr. Weasley's also heard, so maybe you should worry." With a light chuckle, the portrait hole swung open, revealing a semi-crowded common room, from which two pairs of hands emerged and pulled him in.

"Well look what we have here Fred," the jovial voice of George said. "Harry here has decided to try his hand at the noble career that our dear brother Bill chose."

"I must admit I am impressed by his decision," Fred replied. "Bill's told us all about how serious and dangerous his job is. Yet Harry here is obviously a braver man than us to take on such a dangerous career."

"Though, it shouldn't be all that bad," George, said with a large grin. "If what Bill said is true, then Curse-Breaker's get all the girls. Maybe that is why Harry chose to do this all."

Seeing Harry's red face and useless attempts to talk, the twins both laughed, with everyone that was still in the Common Room laughing to.

"Judging by Harry's silence, I'd say we hit the nail right on the head dear twin of mine," Fred said, causing more laughter. "Harry here is finally growing up. We're going to have to make sure we've got some birds before Harry get's back, or they are all going to be taken by his Curse-Breaker charms and we won't have any shot."

"I don't know Fred," George said with waggling eyebrows. "Harry will already be working with some very attractive girls as it is. Maybe we won't have to worry to much and he will get with one of them instead."

The Common Room laughed again, much to Harry's embarrassment, before Fred and George gave a quick bow and pulled Harry towards a corner.

"Now in all seriousness Harry," Fred said, with a slightly concerned voice. "Bill did tell us when he first got the job how dangerous this all was. You are like the younger brother we've always wanted. Well, more then Ron anyways. Though we may not show it, we are pretty smart even though we only got a handful of OWL's a piece. We just choose to focus on our jokes."

"That is why, we are going to be gifting to you a notebook with all of our, experimental, spells tomorrow before you leave," George said in a similar tone. "They would mostly be used as a diversion in the worst case, but they could still be helpful. And all that we ask for in return is that we can use the Marauder's map while you are gone."

Harry was taken off guard by their sudden serious tones but quickly thought over what they said. Given their seriousness, and Bill's before, and knowing his luck, it was quiet likely that he could be in danger. The Twins were also brilliant, in a strange sort of way, and since he likely wouldn't be getting any help from Hermione, who he still needed to talk to, they could be a great help to him. Having decided, he quickly nodded his head, to the grins of both of them.

"Well then, I'm glad that's decided on," Fred replied. "We will have a copy of our notebook ready for you tomorrow. Katie already told us when you are leaving, so we will see you then." That said, both twins began to make their way towards the boy's dorm before they turned around.

"Oh, and one more thing," they said in unison. "We advise that you watch out for that Slytherin you are with, Lucien. We have been in some of the same classes as him these past six years, and he is scary smart. Try not to get on his bad side." The twins then went up the stairs, leaving a confused Harry behind.

Harry didn't stay downstairs for too much longer, having not seen Ron or Hermione anywhere, and decided to head up to bed. Mentally cursing that he wouldn't have time to talk to Sirius tonight, he let out a silent gasp of surprise when he ran into Ron, who appeared to be leaving their dorms.

"Finally Harry," he said in an exasperated tone. "I've been waiting up here for you for a while now. Where have you been?"

Harry didn't even bother trying to answer, instead motioning to his neck and making a couple of gestures that said he couldn't talk, much to Ron's confusion.

"Okay, so you had to go to the Hospital wing then because something happened to your voice," he asked confusedly. "Whatever, I suppose that means you can't talk about what is going on tonight. I can wait until tomorrow, that is, if you can speak by then."

Harry wanted to slap himself at how Ron thought he had to go to the Hospital Wing, but decided against it so he wouldn't have to suffer any embarrassment. He then began to make motions with his hands again, trying to ask about Hermione.

"Okay, so you want to talk about your hair," Ron said confusedly. "What, no? Okay then, it has to do with hair though right? Okay, and something to do with a book. And a girl." It took Ron a couple of minutes before he realized what, or whom, Harry was trying to ask about. "Oh, you want to know about Hermione right?"

Harry let out a sigh of relief and nodded his head, before noticing the look on Ron's face. It was a mixture of frustration, and some sadness.

"She's denying the whole idea that you became an Apprentice," he said in a dark tone. "Said that there is no way you could be one, something about you not taking the right classes or being smart enough. Thankfully she's accepted that she didn't get in, but she just won't accept that you did. Her and I had a bit of a row about it when everyone got back from the announcement; she looked like she had been crying recently. But you know how she is; she always thinks she is right. So, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets really angry, really fast when she realizes that you did get in."

After hearing all of that, Harry's face was a mixture of emotions. On one hand, he was beyond angry that Hermione thought he wasn't smart or good enough to become and Apprentice, even if he didn't enter his own name. But on the other hand, he was also disappointed. Disappointed that he was growing apart from one of his friends, and might actually be losing one. Giving Ron a pat on the shoulder and smile for him what he wanted to know, he made his way towards his bed.

Flopping down onto it, not even bothering to change clothes, he heard a mumbled "Night," from Ron as he went into bed as well. Harry laid in bed awake for a while, wondering how much more things could spiral away from what he had wanted this year to originally be. Having already accepted the fact that he was in this, he decided to get to sleep now so he wouldn't be late tomorrow. Thankfully for him, he hadn't unpacked most of his things though, so that was one less worry for him. As he began to drift off to sleep, his last thoughts were of what kind of things he would have to face during his time as a Curse-Breaker.

* * *

Far away, sitting in a throne like chair of a dark room illuminated only by the green glow of a fir, the homunculus form of Lord Voldemort sat with a contemplative look on his face. One of his most loyal servants, Barty Crouch Jr., was telling him how their plans were now ruined. Potter had somehow ended up getting tied up in another magical contract, despite Barty's best efforts, and wouldn't be able to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"We will have to change our plans Barty," Voldemort said in a hissing voice. "The fact Potter won't be in the tournament makes my plans for resurrection impossible now. We are going to have to move on to plan B instead."

"Of course my Lord," the head of Barty said from the fire. "I will take my leave of Hogwarts immediately, and begin to gather the components required for your resurrection."

The Dark Lord Voldemort sat there in silence for a moment before speaking up.

"Good Barty, you truly are my most loyal. Once you have gathered all the ingredients required for our backup plan, you will need to make one more stop. Near where I am residing right now, there is an old house that you must visit. Your Dark Mark will allow you to get through all of the wards. Inside this house, underneath the floorboards, there is a box that you must bring to me. Do not open the box; what is inside is of great value to me. Make sure this is all done by the Winter Solstice, that will be the best time for me to undertake my rebirth."

"As you wish my Lord," Barty replied, before his head left the fire. His most loyal servant gone, Voldemort lost his calm expression and his face twisted into a look of furry.

"Wormtail," Voldemort screamed in a voice full of fury. Wormtail quickly scrambled into the room, looking terrified.

"Y-Yes My Lord," he asked, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here.

Voldemort didn't respond for a minute, simply glaring at Wormtail with a look of rage before raising his wand. "I need to let out some fury," he spoke. "_Crucio!" _Wormtails screams filled the room, much to Voldemort's relief, and would continue to do so throughout the night.

* * *

**Well, that's it for this chapter. Once again, I'm sorry for the long gap between my posting, I seriously underestimated my College workload. Also, I apologize if this chapter seems kind of everywhere. Like I said before, the only time I really have to work on this are late at night at my job. That means that there is sometimes where it's been days since I last worked on it, meaning I may have lost a train of thought. Also, I was half asleep some of the times, so there is that.**

**Anyways, that's enough of my problems, now onto Reviewer's Response!**

**crystaldove: Hermione will be upset, but I plan on putting her through the five stages of grief I think it's called. Though, she will be stuck on a certain stage in the end. And Ron may get a little annoyed with Harry, but it won't be for those reasons that you said. As for Sirius and the blood, Harry already dismissed him doing this.**

**anarion87, momocolady and lord Hephaestus: Thanks for the positive support.**

**Emma-girl and HexyMama: Hermione's reaction is going to be a little bit in next chapter, but it will likely be spread out over the time Harry is at Hogwarts between expeditions.**

**Guest: Thanks, I'm trying to go for originality and avoid some clichés, though that is very hard. Harry will be learning some good magic this year, hopefully it is unique in respect to other stories. And I can see canon Hermione acting this way to, Harry is just opening his eyes to her behavior now.**

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I am going to try my hardest to get the next chapter up, which will be the next morning, and trip to Diagon Alley. As always, reviews are appreciated, but not necessary. If you find yourself to shy or lazy to post a review, fav or following the story works to. See ya next time!**


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